Cover latch



oct. 19, 1965 L. HICKEY 3,212,804

COVER LATCH Filed June 19, 1963 INVENTOR United States Patent O 3,212,804 COVER LATCH Robert L. Hickey, St. Clair Shores, Mich., assignor to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 19, 1963, Ser. No. 288,989 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-128) This invention relates to enclosures in general and more particularly to a latch means for maintaining the enclosure covered in closed position.

Cover latches of the general type disclosed in the instant application are intended to act automatically as an enclosure cover is closed to retain the cover against accidental opening. Heretofore latch means of this type have been constructed of an excessive number of parts or else the construction of one or more of the parts has proven to be costly because of some complicated configuration required.

In contrast, the latch means of the instant invention requires but three elements, namely a catch member, a rivet pivotally securing the catch member and a torsion spring mounted to the rivet and biasing the catch toward latching position. As will hereinafter become apparent, a simplified construction is accomplished through the novel cooperation of a bent ear on the catch with a slot of the enclosure and the utilization of this same bent ear to seat one end of the biasing spring.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a novel construction for a covering latch means.

Another object is to provide a cover latch means having a minimum number of elements and is economical to produce.

Still another object is to provide a cover latch means whose main element is a sheet-like member having a single bent ear which acts to establish the latching position of the element and also provides a seat for a spring biasing the element to latching position.

These, as well as other objects of this invention shall become readily apparent after reading the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of an enclosure having a latch means constructed in accordance with the teachings of the instant invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the catch member.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the member illustrated in FIGURE 2, looking in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective illustrating the construction of the latch means and its mounting to the enclosure.

Now, referring to the figures, enclosure is provided with openable cover 11 pivoted on hinge means v12. Catch 15 is pivotally mounted by rivet 16 to enclosure wall 17 near the forward edge thereof. Rivet 16 extends through wall aperture 18, the turns of torsion spring 19, and aperture 20- of catch 15.

Catch 15 is a member constructed of sheet material including a body portion 21 and a single ear 22 extending at right angles to the plane of body portion 21. Catch 15 is positioned so that ear 22 is disposed within notch 24 at the forward edge of wall 17 with the portion of body 21 in the region of ear 22 is cut away to provide recess 25 wherein cover portion 26 is disposed when cover 11 is in the closed position of FIGURE l.

End 27 of torsion spring 19 bears against ear 22 while offset 28 at the other end of spring 19 bears against the left .boundary of notch 24. Thus, it is seen that spring 19 biases catch 15 to the right with respect to FIGURE l to a latching position determined through the engagement of ear 22 with the right boundary of notch 24.

When cover 11 is in the closed position of FIGURE 1, the forward end of catch 15 projects through cover notch 29 to a position forward of cover 11. This Iforwardly projecting portion of body 21 is provided with aperture 31 adapted to receive a padlock hasp for the purpose of preventing the opening of cover 11 by unauthorized personnel.

Under normal conditions of operation, with cover 11 pivoted to a clockwise direction with respect to its position of FIGURE 1 to the open position, catch 15 is biased to its latching position with ear 22 in engagement with the right boundary of notch 24. As cover 11 is being closed, the right boundary 32 of cover notch 29 engages right forward sloping surface 33 of catch 15 thereby driving catch 15 in a counter clockwise direction about rivet 16 as a center. As soon as cover 11 moves to the rear of latching tip 35, spring 29 moves catch 15 to its latching position with tip 35 overlying cover region 26 to prevent accidental opening of cover 11. In order to open cover 11, catch 15 must be manually operated to the left with respect to FIGURE 1 to a position where latch tip 35 is clear of notch boundary 32.

Thus, this invention provides a simplified construction for a cover latching means with the main element consisting of a member constructed of sheet material and having a single ear which serves as a spring seating means and also as a means for establishing the latching position of the latch means. It is noted that with the construction illustrated, only simple notches need be formed in the enclosure and cover as contrasted with prior art constructions which require the mounting of brackets or the bending of a tab.

Although I have described preferred embodiments of my novel invention, many variations nad modications will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, and I prefer therefore to be limited not by the specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an eX- clusive privilege or property is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In Combination, an enclosure having an opening, a cover hingedly mounted to said enclosure for movement between an open and a closed position, said cover when in said closed position constituting a clos-ure -for said opening, a catch pivotally mounted to said enclosure and movable between a latching and a releasing position, said catch including a 4body portion and an ear extending transverse to the plane of the body portion, said enclosure having a noteh in a wall thereof, said ear being disposed in said notch, said ear cooperating with the boundary walls of said notch to limit movement of said catch between its latching and releasing position, biasing means urging said catch toward said latching position, said catch further including a latch tip partially defining a catch opening which receives a first portion of said cover when said cover is in said closed position and said catch is in said latching position whereby said latch tip is operatively positioned to block movement of said cover to said open position, said cover upon being moved to said closed position engaging said catch to move the latter to releasing position until said first portion of said cover enters said catch opening at which time said biasing means returns said catch to said latching position, a pin-like member mounting said catch to said wall, said biasing means comprising a torsion spring mounted upon 3 said member, said torsion spring interposed between said catch and said wall, one end of said spring bearing against said ear and the other end of said spring bearing against a boundary Wall of said notch.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the body portion of said catch is provided with an aperture external of said enclosure and adapted to receive a lock hasp to thereby operatively position a lock to prevent opening of said cover.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,225,722 12/40 Spieth a 292-136 2,712,464 7/55 Collar et al. c- 292-128 2,880,028 3/59 Forslind 292--108 3,035,859 5/62 Rimmer et al. 292-128 JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

10 M. HENSON WOOD, IR., Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, AN ENCLOSURE HAVING AN OPENING, A COVER HINGEDLY MOUNTED TO SAID ENCLOSURE FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN AN OPEN AND A CLOSED POSITION, SAID COVER WHEN IN SAID OPEN AND A CLOSED POSITION, SAID COVER WHEN OPENING, A CATCH PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID ENCLOSURE AND MOVABLE BETWEEN A LATCHING AND A RELEASING POSITION, SAID CATCH INCLUDING A BODY PORTION AND AN EAR EXTENDING TRANSVERSE TO THE PLANE OF THE BODY PORTION, SAID ENCLOSURE HAVING A NOTCH IN A WALL THEREOF, SAID EAR BEING DISPOSED IN SAID NOTCH, SAID EAR COOPERATING WITH THE BOUNDARY WALLS OF SAID NOTCH TO LIMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID CATCH BETWEEN ITS LATCHING AND RELEASING POSITION, BIASING MEANS URGING SAID CATCH TOWARD SAID LATCHING POSITION, SAID CATCH FURTHER INCLUDING A LATCH TIP PARTIALLY DEFINING A CATCH OPENING WHICH RECEIVES A FIRST PORTION OF SAID COVER WHEN SAID COVER IS IN SAID CLOSED POSITION AND SAID CATCH IS IN SAID LATCHING POSITION WHEREBY SAID LATCH TIP IS OPERATIVELY POSITIONED TO BLOCK MOVEMENT OF SAID COVER TO SAID OPEN POSITIONED TO BLOCK MOVEMENT OF SAID TO SAID CLOSED POSITION ENGAGING SAID CATCH TO MOVE THE LATTER TO RELEASING POSITION UNTIL SAID FIRST PORTION OF SAID COVER ENTERS SAID CATCH OPENING AT WHICH TIME SAID BIASING MEANS RETURNS SAID CATCH TO SAID LATCHING POSITION, A PIN-LIKE MEMBER MOUNTING SAID CATCH TO SAID WALL, SAID BIASING MEANS COMPRISING A TORSION SPRING MOUNTED UPON SAID MEMBER, SAID TORSION SPRING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CATCH AND SAID WALL, ONE END OF SAID SPRING BEARING AGAINST SAID EAR AND THE OTHER END OF SAID SPRING BEARING AGAINST A BOUNDARY WALL OF SAID NOTCH. 